Emery refuses to rule out PSG raid for Mbappe

Emery refuses to rule out PSG raid for Mbappe

Unai Emery did not rule out the possibility of Paris Saint-Germain continuing their eye-watering spending this transfer window with a raid on rivals Monaco for the highly sought-after Kylian Mbappe.

France forward Mbappe is one of the hottest properties in European football after breaking into Monaco's first team last season and helping them beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title.

Real Madrid, Manchester City and Barcelona have all been linked with a move for his services, but reports suggest PSG are closing on a deal to take Mbappe to the Parc des Princes.

That would see the teenager link up with Neymar, who completed a world-record €222million move from Barcelona this month.

Earlier in the window it was claimed PSG were willing to pay €135m to land Mbappe, although the huge outlay for Neymar may have caused a rethink on the fee.

When asked about a potential move at a news conference previewing PSG's Sunday trip to Guingamp, head coach Emery was non-committal on the club's intentions.

"I do not know what will happen in the future," he said. "But Mbappe is a currently a Monaco player.

"I only talk about players in the squad. We have a lot of players, yes, but the daily work is going well."

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim was also faced with questions over Mbappe's future when speaking to the media before taking his side to Dijon.

Since winning the title, Monaco have lost Benjamin Mendy, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva to the Premier League, and Jardim expressed the thought that the window is not only about the strengthening of teams, but also the weakening of rivals.

"Once, I was in a meeting with a great Portuguese president and he told me, 'the transfer market is not only there to strengthen teams, it's also there to weaken opponents' and I think that it is a strategy used a lot. But I'm relaxed as usual," he said.

Pressed on if Mbappe had asked to leave, he added: "I won't talk about transfers, about rumours. I already talked about it, this is the story of the great Portuguese president."